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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Persian Gulf War, 1991; Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 155th Aviation Company; 92nd Aviation Company; 8th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Division; 35th Infantry Division; Army National Guard
  • Location of Service: Blackhorse Base, Vietnam; Central Highlands, Vietnam; Ban Me Thuot, Vietnam; Cambodia; Laos; Fort Knox, Kentucky; New York; North Carolina; Delaware; Nevada
  • Highest Rank: Chief Warrant Officer 3
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/17074

View full service history

"One thing they don't teach you in flight school is how to land helicopters in a formation \\nwhile you have other helicopters firing through the formation." (Audio Interview, 24:16)

His grandfather and father were Marines, but Francis Bayer had other ideas about serving his country-he wanted to fly. He enlisted in the Army in 1967 because it was the one branch that guaranteed he would get into flight school. In Vietnam, Bayer flew helicopters involved in troop insertions and reconnaissance, learning to improvise under fire or in a tight spot. He is proud that in postwar tests of air-to-air combat situations, tactics that he helped develop allowed his helicopter to outmaneuver Navy jets. He continued flying after his service days, working rescue and medevac jobs.

Francis J. Bayer Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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About this Item

Title

  • Francis J. Bayer Collection

Names

  • Morse, Rebecca D.
  • Adult Learning Programs of Alaska
  • Bayer, Francis J.
  • Betts, Amy J.

Home State

  • Missouri

Headings

  • -  Bayer, Francis J.
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.
  • -  Persian Gulf War, 1991 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • White

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 155th Aviation Company; 92nd Aviation Company; 8th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Division; 35th Infantry Division; Army National Guard
    • Location of Service: Blackhorse Base, Vietnam; Central Highlands, Vietnam; Ban Me Thuot, Vietnam; Cambodia; Laos; Fort Knox, Kentucky; New York; North Carolina; Delaware; Nevada
    • Highest Rank: Chief Warrant Officer 3
    • Dates of Service: 1967-1992
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran
  • Persian Gulf War, 1991

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-05-21; 1994-12-31)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [2 items] -- Oral history interview (collected unknown)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-05-21; 1994-12-31)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 2003-05-21)
  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 2003-05-21; 2003-06-18)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/17074

Cite as

  • Francis J. Bayer Collection (AFC/2001/001/17074), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • online text

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Morse, Rebecca D, Adult Learning Programs Of Alaska, Francis J Bayer, and Amy J Betts. Francis J. Bayer Collection. 1967. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.17074/.

APA citation style:

Morse, R. D., Adult Learning Programs Of Alaska, Bayer, F. J. & Betts, A. J. (1967) Francis J. Bayer Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.17074/.

MLA citation style:

Morse, Rebecca D, et al. Francis J. Bayer Collection. 1967. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.17074/>.